Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a pleasure and honour to contribute on any budget. As someone mentioned, I have spoken on a few. We used to speak for much longer on budgets, but that is how things go over time. We now spend more time doing work in the committees, including pre-legislative scrutiny, to the detriment of what used to be the Second Stage speech, which addresses the general principles contained in any proposed legislation or budget.

Something that never ceases to amaze me is the degree to which the Opposition can be negatively descriptive in its response to a budget. There was nothing new this time either - "lost opportunities", "missed opportunities", "failure to recognise" and "too little, too late". It has never changed down all the years, so it would be great if we could have a change.

Having a Government point of view, I look at this somewhat differently. The budget does not solve all of the country's problems, and never could it intend to, but it is a robust response by the Government to the twin challenges of Brexit and Covid. Even as we speak, Covid rages throughout the country and measures continue to be taken to try to curtail it. It is within the ambit of everyone to make a contribution to that effort. We all must reflect on how we live our lives and ask ourselves whether we can do more, restrict our movements, restrict the degree to which we interact with others, reduce our meetings in groups and so forth. Obviously, we are not doing enough.

Although it is something of a contradiction, the restrictions must continue because the economy must recover. If it does not, then we cannot drive what must be done in future, we cannot repay what we borrow and we cannot fund what we have already put in place. In such circumstances, we must try to find a happy medium where we observe the regulations that are most effective in curtailing the virus while our economy is activated to the extent that is necessary and desirable.

Time and again over the past six months, we have all had to look at the way we live and where we are heading and ask ourselves the pertinent question of whether we are making progress. We have held the line for quite a while, but the Government must now respond again with new regulations and curtailments. It is sad, but that is the way it is. If we panic and run away from Brexit, it will overcome us. So will Covid. These twin issues are the greatest threats to our well-being and livelihoods that our country has seen since its foundation. The Government should continue, though. It will have to respond to other issues as they arise, issues that will be an equal threat to the stability of the country and the economy.

This budget has considered needs in many areas, albeit not to the extent that one would like in all regards. We cannot do everything in the face of the magnitude of the threats before us, though. Maintaining the capital expenditure programme, which is something that was dropped to one side whenever a threat appeared in the past, is wise. It must continue. The investment in health and housing must continue. No matter what we do in terms of housing, we will not be able to make the progress necessary to resolve the problem as quickly as we would like. That is how it has been for the past number of years. Be it the building of local authority housing or the building of private housing, it all has an effect on the market value of housing. A major leap forward in the delivery of houses is necessary. That will in turn influence the market and reduce house prices. House prices in Ireland have been way too high for several years. I do not know why it has to be that way. There is no need to keep it so.

Health has been a vulnerable area for many years. It is ironic that it has to be addressed now, given the threat of the virus. The budget is a good, solid response to the issues. Eventually, it will pay off. As other Deputies have mentioned, we are also involved in delivering Sláintecare.

That is an integral part of delivering the health services we require in this country in the future.

We also need to do more in the area of special needs provision. We have taken action to a certain extent in this regard but we need to continue on that path. Children with special needs will continue to have those needs regardless of any ups and downs in the economy. Sadly, over the period of the pandemic, there has been a serious impact on the assessment of special needs. I hope that in the course of the budget debate, it will be possible to address those particular issues.

We have spoken about mental health issues many times in this House and we all know that addressing that area of need does not get any easier as time goes on. The requirement is still there and we must continue to invest in that particular area to a greater extent than was ever the case in the past. Mental health provision has always been regarded as the Cinderella of the health services and that is indeed what is has been. Child mental health provision is an issue that is becoming more urgent as time goes by. It is something on which there must and will be a focus in the coming years, notwithstanding the pressures of Covid and Brexit. I recall a response I received some years ago to a parliamentary question regarding children who had self-harmed on numerous occasions, which informed me that there were often attendant issues for the children in question in terms of their household or their community. Those issues can, must and, I hope, will be addressed in the not too distant future.

One should always make reference to one's constituency and I take this opportunity to refer to the DART+ project which is coming towards us at a good rate. I have asked the Minister to consider whether it can be extended further into areas such as Kilcock and Enfield, which would be of huge benefit in providing alternative transport in the future for people living in the commuter belt. Local infrastructure is an issue that must be taken into consideration in this regard. Where more houses are being built to accommodate a growing housing need, there must be road networks to facilitate connectivity between road and rail services to provide the necessary wherewithal to enable people to get to where they need to go.

My last point concerns education, which has been challenged like every other sector of society over the past 12 months and particularly in the past six months. The budget offers a fairly shrewd and good assessment of what is required in this area. I believe it will produce the results that are needed as long as we remain constant in what we are trying to do in terms of both Covid and Brexit.

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